


Disbelief

by xnemones_graveyard



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Gen, Post-Canon, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:33:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xnemones_graveyard/pseuds/xnemones_graveyard
Summary: Summary: Chihiro expected her time in the spirit realm to fade from her memory, but even into high school it hasn’t. Haku’s face is just as vivid as it used to be. Her parents don’t remember anything. Her classmates don’t believe her. Until Haku shows up on her doorstep, begging for her help.
Kudos: 10





	Disbelief

Chihiro is sitting at her desk in her family’s house, doing homework. Her window is open, letting in the sounds of the birds and the rain. She lifts her head from the equations in front of her and rests her chin in her palm, elbow propped up on the edge of the table. Her bedroom window looks out over the hill. The road to the abandoned train station is barely visible in the trees. Every once in awhile, Chihiro swears she sees a looming shadow on the road, but she would never tell anyone. Her parents have completely forgotten their trip to the spirit realm, but she has not. She hasn’t forgotten Haku, either. Sometimes, she will take the train and go visit the Kohaku River, buried beneath apartment buildings. Being there comforts her, even if she can’t see or hear the water.

Her phone chimes and she picks it up, seeing a text from one of her friends.

 **Mei:** Lets call off the movie night, this downpour is awful

 **Chihiro:** Sure

Chihiro looks back out the window. The rain is coming down hard. There are questions about classifying it as a typhoon, instead of a storm.

Lightning crackles across the sky, echoed by an explosion of thunder.

She goes back to her homework.

Ten minutes later, a pounding on the front door startles her out of her concentration. She gets up and jogs out of her room, racing down the stairs as he father opens the door. She peeks around the corner into the entry hall and gasps.

“Haku!” she exclaims.

He looks awful. His arm is cut and bleeding. He’s drenched from the rain and his dirty, bloody clothes are clinging to him. He is shivering slightly, breathing heavily. He stumbles inside and barely manages to get three steps before he collapses. Chihiro kneels in front of him worriedly, trying to get a look at his injury.

“Chihiro, what is going on? Who is this?” her father demands, closing the front door.

“He’s a friend, Dad! Please let him stay, we have to help him!” she says, prying Haku’s hand away from his wound.

It’s a messy cut, deep and flowing. Chihiro’s mother comes in and gasps.

“Who is that?!”

“His name is Haku, can you please get the first aid kit and something to get the blood off with?” Chihiro requests.

Her mother bites her tongue and nods, disappearing again.

“How did you meet him?” her father asks.

“I can’t tell you right now, Dad, he’s hurt,” Chihiro replies.

Haku makes eye contact with the man, whose eyes soften slightly at the pained expression on the boy’s face. Haku looks back at Chihiro as her mother comes back, setting down a box with a wet towel and many medical supplies. Chihiro starts to fix up his arm, tearing his sleeve off to get to the injury. Haku puts his other hand on her shoulder.

“Chihiro,” he breathes.

“Hush, don’t move,” she demands, focused on the task at hand.

“Chihiro, we don’t have much time,” he tells her more firmly. “I shouldn’t be here. Listen to me, okay? You need to go back to the bathhouse. Yubaba is dead, Zeniba was still fighting when I left. A monster is attacking, and you’re the only one who can save us. I would prefer anyone else, but I’m afraid we don’t have any other choice.”

“Sh,” she murmurs, finishing up her hasty stitches and laying gauze over the wound, taping it in place. “Why am I the only one?”

She rolls back on her heels, crouching in front of him. He allows himself a moment to look at her. Chihiro has certainly grown up. She is taller and fuller. He is ancient, but this form is young. He could change it if he chose to. She may physically look older, but to him she is still a naive human.

“You’re entirely human, Chihiro.”

She startles.

“What?”

He stands up, bracing himself on a wall. She follows him, hand reaching out hesitantly in case he needs her help again.

“Only… A brave-hearted human… Can destroy it. And you are the bravest human any of us know. The only one who knows about us. So, will you join me?” he asks, looking her in the eye.

She hesitates, biting her lip and fiddling with the hem of her school uniform.

“Before that, what is going on?” Chihiro’s mother demands, hands on her hips.

They look up at her.

“Mom, this is--”

“Kohaku. I am a river spirit.”

Chihiro’s parents startle. Then her father laughs heartily.

“Yeah, right, and I’m the emperor! This kid’s a riot, Chihiro,” he exclaims.

Kohaku narrows his eyes and changes his form with a rustle of flower petals from nowhere. He grows taller, his hair falling down to his waist, his shoulders broadening slightly. He holds himself proudly, chin up and shoulders back as his form settles. The transformation makes him look a few years older; only enough to match Chihiro’s age, though.

“I am the spirit of the swift amber river, Kohaku. I have come for Chihiro’s help,” he states in a lower voice.

Chihiro and her parents are staring at him with a mixture of awe and fascination. Her parents show fear as well, but she does not. He looks at her again, offering his good hand.

“Chihiro, will you help me?”

“I… Yes, but what about my life here? I have friends, and school!”

Kohaku frowns.

“I know it is a lot to ask, but I would never have come here if I had another choice,” he states. “This world weakens me. The longer I stay, the worse it will get. Please, Chihiro. Make your decision swiftly and send your reply with this,” he tells her, holding his palm up as a white lotus forms. “It won’t wilt, and once you give it a command directly it will be carried on the wind. Take care of it, and do not lose it. It’s the only way you can contact me, and you will need a guard once you cross the border.”

She nods, accepting the flower. He puts his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes.

_Please, come back._

He hurries out the door with that thought, running down the hill and into the forest. Chihiro and her parents stand in silence for a moment, stunned. Chihiro stares down at the flower. When she finally looks up, there are tears shining in her eyes.

“Mom, Dad…”

“Go. It sounds like he really needs you,” her father says softly.

“Sweetie, do you want to help him?” her mother asks.

She nods. Her parents glance at each other and smile. Then they turn back to her.

“We’ll take care of everything here. Go to him,” her mother says.

Chihiro nods again and runs upstairs, the flower still clutched in her hand. When Chihiro gets to her room, she looks at it.

“Tell Kohaku that I’m coming,” she tells the flower.

It flutters into the air and drifts out the open window, in the direction of the forest. She smiles at it and gets to work.

She packs a backpack with a change of clothes, a knife, a piece of rope, some hair ties, extra shoes, and a comb. He glances at her phone and plugs it in before she grabs the bag and throws on a raincoat. Then, she goes back downstairs. Her parents are waiting in the hall.

“Good luck, Chihiro,” her mom tells her.

She smiles back and replies, “Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

“Take care!” her father calls.

She waves on her way out the door. She runs behind the house and goes down the hill, slipping on the mud occasionally. She makes it to the road and keeps walking. It’s a long trek before she finally finds herself under the safety of the train station.

She walks down the dark tunnel cautiously, rats squeaking near the walls. She sees a light at the other end and steps out into the sunlight, blue skies overhead.

“You made it,” a relieved voice says.

She turns and sees Kohaku leaning against the wall of the fake train station. He seems calm, but his eyes are concerned and he still isn’t moving his left arm much.

“Kohaku,” she greets.

“Get on my back,” he instructs.

He turns into a dragon and stares at her. She smiles and climbs on, holding his horns. He rises into the air and flies. She can’t help herself but laugh joyously as the ground falls away beneath them.


End file.
